China Focus: Fatal accidents sound alarm for China's road killers

BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) --
Dangerous roads claimed the lives of nearly 800 people in China
during the eight-day holiday, leaving heart-broken memories to
their families who had been planning reunions or tours.

Statistics with China's Ministry of
Public Security showed 794 people were killed and more than 2,400
others injured in road accidents during the Sept. 30 to Oct. 7
travel rush. The "Golden Week" combined the Mid-Autumn Festival and
the National Day holidays this year.

Figures showed there was a 46.4
percent fall in the death toll compared with the same period last
year, yet the casualties highlighted the dangers on China's roads,
with a sharp increase of private cars involved during the past
decade.

"I saw six different pileups as I
drove my car from Qujing, southwestern Yunnan Province, to Yibin,
Sichuan Province close to Yunnan," said Xie Ying. The drive took 11
hours, double the time it usually takes.

The accidents were a primary cause
for highway traffic jams, he added. "Some drivers turned a blind
eye to traffic rules and tried to speed up to pass others. It was
really very dangerous."

In one of the fatal accidents, 14
people were killed after two passenger buses collided on an
expressway in east China's Shandong Province on Sunday. In another,
on Oct. 1, five German tourists and a Chinese driver died and 14
others were injured after their bus rear-ended a container truck
and caught fire near Chinese capital Beijing.

The holiday saw more cars on the
roads than ever before, due to a newly adopted government policy,
which made most expressways toll free during the holiday period for
passenger cars with fewer than seven seats.

"The free-fee policy led to a sharp
increase of newly-passed drivers, who grasped this opportunity to
enjoy driving, which posed threats to road safety," said Wei
Ningxian, head of traffic police of south China's Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region.

Wei pointed out many families chose
to drive their own cars for long journeys, which often caused
driver fatigue and therfore traffic accidents. "Overspeeding and
drivers' fatigue are the main causes of accidents."

In Chinese towns and cities, it is
not difficult for well-off families to buy a car. More and more
rely on them for work or travel, making traffic jams a big
problem.

Road safety faces challenges.
Drivers do not give way to pedestrians at intersections when light
signals allow both to go. Some pedestrians or drivers ignore red
lights.

Official statistics showed 62,387
people died in road accidents last year in China, or 170 each day
on average.

"The biggest problem lies in
exam-oriented training, in which learners focus on memorizing basic
knowledge but lack more practice," said Zhou. "They do not know how
to deal with emergencies properly when driving on roads, nor keep
in mind traffic rules and safety awareness."

A new driver surnamed Chen in
Nanning, capital of Guangxi, said he managed to obtain a license
after receiving training for no more than ten hours before the
holiday. This was to avoid a new policy that will require 55 hours
of training for the same license.

"Preparations are made only for
passing traffic exams. I forgot most of what I had learned after
the exam." Chen said.

To improve road safety, analysts
have called for tougher and more effective exams for drivers and
tougher punishment for violators of traffic rules.

"It is important to improve the
training system and enhance the qualities of drivers," said Wu
Yong, another driver coach in Hunan.

Some netizens suggested popular TV
channels broadcast traffic knowledge and videos of road accidents
to raise the safety awareness of Chinese drivers. Enditem